“Freedom is not given to us by anyone we have to cultivate it ourselves. It is a daily practice...no one can prevent you from being aware of each step you take or each breath in and breath out. ”-Thich Nhat Hanh

“Most people see what is, and never see what can be.”-Albert Einstein

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”-Viktor E. Frankl

“The mind is everything; what you think you become.”-Buddha

“Be proud of how far you have come, and have faith in how far you can go.”-Richard Springs

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery, today is a gift, that's why they call it present...”-Source Unknown

“Smile, breathe and go slowly.”-Thich Nhat Hanh

“The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them.”-Michel De Montaigne

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”-Viktor E. Frankl

“Within you lies a power greater than what lies before you.”-Rhonda Blake

Activity Journal Practice

Motivation to keep your body moving…

Keeping a journal of your exercise and activity-workouts, walks,
chores, or anything that makes you move your body-is one of the
best ways to ensure progress towards your overall health and
fitness goals. It keeps you mindful of the many small choices
that lead to health and gives you a realistic picture of how you're
moving to keep you on track, give yourself credit where it's due
and help you balance out your body's needs. Consistency and
honesty are key.

You can expect: weight loss,
serious increases in motivation and dedication, a
better of understanding of your activity levels and how to increase
and modify them easily to accommodate your daily life.

What the experts are saying: Activity and
food journals are great tools to help with weight
loss. Kristin Kirkpatrick, registered dietitian, contends
that keeping a food log may help you lose up to 50% more weight
than you would if you didn't record your daily diet.
Journaling your meals and exercise can do more than just track your
calorie intake and output; it can help you discover hidden eating
triggers, undo bad habits and learn how to energize your body by
eating and staying active.

What to Consider:

You may want to maintain your activity online, or in paper
form. There are many great on-line tools for tracking
exercise as well as food. The combination of an online
activity journal and food journal is a powerful tool. An
on-line activity journal will calculate the calories you burn,
while an on-line food journal will calculate you intake of fat
grams, calories, carbohydrates, protein, fiber, etc. Please
refer to the additional resources section to view our
recommendations for on-line tools that combine activity and food
journals.

4. Track all
activity

Track the types of activities you performed, the duration and
the level of difficulty at which you performed the activity (light,
moderate, vigorous). Here is a list of what you may want to track
in your activity journal:

The types of activities you did

The duration you performed the activity for

The level of difficulty at which you performed the activity
(light, moderate, vigorous)

How your body felt before and after an activity

How were you feeling before you preformed the activity?

Who were you with?

Did you perform to the level you expected?

How do you feel now (e.g. satisfied, healthy, guilty)?

Overall, was this a positive or negative activity
experience?

5. Review your activity
journaleach week to see your
progress.

Each week review your progress and make the necessary changes
based on what is working and what is not. Think about what things
motivated or deterred you from your workouts or intensity.
After 30 days review your goals and respond to your progress or
make refinements as needed. (Remember they are your goals so you
can change them if you want to!)

Understand the benefits of keeping an
activity journal

Planning

Whether your goal is to lose 5 pounds by spring, lower your
blood pressure, or train for an event such as a ½ marathon, you
will need a plan. By tracking your metrics, exercise, and diet on a
daily basis you will be in a better place to understand what you
need to do to reach your goal. If weight loss is your goal, log the
foods you eat and the exercise you perform and an on-line resource
will calculate the calories consumed and expended and show you the
difference.

Medical Reasons

Maybe your doctor has recommended some diet changes to lower
your blood pressure. Use an on-line food and activity journal to
track the foods you've eaten, the exercise you've completed, and
your daily blood pressure to see if the changes have made a
difference. Find out how much sodium you've consumed or how much
saturated fat you've removed from your diet.

Say you're planning to run your first ½ marathon in four
months. Develop a training program, start tracking your daily
exercise including distance, average speed, and average heart rate.
Observe your speed and distance increase and your average heart
rate decrease as you consistently train for your event.

Accountability

Writing down your diet and exercise plan greatly increases your
chances of sticking to them versus simply trying to "diet" or
"exercise" more. At times you will think that you have been
exercising and eating well when you can look back at your activity
log and see that you've only averaged one workout per week for the
past month.

Motivation

The main benefit of tracking your food and exercise is
motivation. It is much simpler to stay on track if you can look
back after sticking to your program for a set amount of time and
see that you've lost weight. It's a great feeling to look at
your weight chart and see that descending line or the ascending
graph of your running pace. These visual cues are reminders that
you are taking small steps each toward your larger goal and it's
successful.

Consistency

Consistency is the key to reaching your food and exercise goals.
Your journey is made up of several small steps. By logging
your exercise, food, and health metrics will help you stay
motivated and consistent in performing your daily tasks. You may
also use the online community to help you recognize that each
exercise session and each healthy eating decision gets you one step
closer to your overall goal no matter how small the step may
appear.